Hit Reply [Paperback]

Rocki St. Claire (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2004

What's worse than spam, more dangerous than cyber sex, and scarier than getting a computer virus? An Instant Message from the guy who got away ten years ago...

grayscale: amber fleece? is that you?

foreveramber: OMG. Am I dreaming?

grayscale: it's me, toots. amazing how many people this classreunion.com thing unearthed.

foreveramber: Sort of like worms.

What happens when a randomly accessed memory changes from a harmless Google to rekindled love? Someone has to draw the line between adultery and e-dultery...

to: wonderwoman

from: tmark

Hey gorgeous. I'm back in the halls of the old workplace.

to: tmark

from: wonderwoman

Just when I thought it was safe to go on line...

to: wonderwoman

from: tmark

I think of you every time I pass the video closet...remember?

to: tmark

from: wonderwoman

Sorry, Tom, I've gone down the mommy track and not even you can derail me. (I hope.)

Hit Reply is what happens when female friends turn to former lovers -- and each other -- to find fulfillment.

foreveramber: I'm 28, in advertising, single, and you know what I need the most?

wonderwoman: You need the strength of character to survive corporate politics, the confidence to believe in your inner beauty, and a trip to the Borghese counter.

foreveramber: Nah. I need a guy who looks like Brad Pitt.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Written in the time-honored epistolary style but with a modern twist, St. Claire's entertaining tale introduces three women and the men who love them (or not) through e-mail messages. Amber is in advertising, and she is facing her 10-year high-school reunion. She puts her information on an Internet classmate finder and is soon in touch with the bad boy she has never forgotten. He is totally not what she is looking for, but as his e-mails get steamier, she reconsiders her options. Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom who's terribly lonely and worried that her husband is having an affair. Amber gives her e-mail to a former coworker Stephanie almost slept with, and their relationship rekindles online. Julie is a divorced empty nester now working as Amber's assistant, and she, too, decides to use the computer to look up an old flame. It's amazing how well the cyber format delivers the story and how provocatively St. Claire raises such searching questions as "Is a cyber romance cheating?" Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

The Best Reviews.com One book you don't want to miss!

Chicklitbooks.com Hit Reply was amazing. Not only did each character have their own distinctive voice, but the characters were hilarious, amusing, and realistic. The story line itself was absorbing and fun....an irresistibly funny story. With memorable characters and surprising plot twists, causing the reader to laugh, cry, and get a smile on their face that just doesn't go away until hours after they've finished the book.

TheBestReviews.com This book is written entirely in e-mails and IMs (instant messages). At first I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the format, but after a few pages, it was almost like sitting down at my own computer and catching up with friends. I really got to know not only the three main characters, but others in the book as well. I found it entertaining, romantic and with surprising emotional depth. If you've ever found comfort in an e-mail from a friend or thought about 'googling' that cute guy from high school, you'll enjoy this book.

The BestReviews.com Hit Reply is a phenomenal story that will not only tickle your funny bone, but touch the deepest parts of your heart and soul. Even though the story is all emails and instant messaging, you don't really miss a thing because Ms. St. Claire fills in the blanks that don't happen on screen perfectly...the best story I have ever read. Engrossed in the story is an understatement! Once I started, I never stopped reading until I turned the very last page. A story that has you laughing out loud one minute, then tearing up the next. Hit Reply is one book you don't want to miss.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (December 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743486242
• ISBN-13: 978-0743486248
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,234,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ROXANNE ST. CLAIRE is a New York Times Bestselling author of nearly thirty novels of romance and suspense. The author of two very popular suspense series, the Bullet Catchers and the Guardian Angelinos, her most recent release is a full-length stand-alone romantic suspense novel, Space In His Heart.

A five-time nominee and one-time winner of the prestigious RITA Award for the best in romantic fiction, Roxanne's books have also been awarded the National Readers Choice Award for best romantic suspense for two consecutive years as well as the Daphne du Maurier award, the Booksellers Best Award, the Award of Excellence, the Maggie, the Holt Medallion and many more. Her novel, The Sins of His Past, was selected as the Borders Top Pick in Romance for 2007, and will be reissued this March as part of the "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" trilogy from Harlequin. Roxanne's books have been published in dozens of countries and are routinely featured as selections in the Doubleday and Rhapsody book clubs.

Space In His Heart is her first independently published novel, a never-before-released thriller about a Navy fighter pilot turned astronaut and the PR superstar who sends his heart to the moon. This spring, a brand new contemporary romance series set on a fictional island off the coast of Florida begins with the April 2012 release of Barefoot In The Sand. In addition, Roxanne has stories in multiple anthologies throughout 2012 and her entire backlist is available in electronic versions. This summer, her first Young Adult novel, Don't You Wish, will be released in hardcover.

Free reads, excerpts, character profiles, author news and contests can be found on her web site: www.roxannestclaire.com. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire and www.twitter.com/@roxannestclaire,or email her via her web site. Roxanne lives in Florida with her husband, two children and loves to hear from readers all over the world!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart, mature, chick lit, December 10, 2004

By 

Annie "bookwishes4" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hit Reply (Paperback)

Written in total email and IM format Hit Reply tells the story of two friends, Amber and Stephanie. The story opens with Amber joining a class reunion group so she can attempt to hook up with Gray, the man that got away back in high school. He contacts her shortly after, and they begin an affair over the internet. Amber learns that Gray is living with someone and he is very committed to the womans child, so she is trying very hard not to get her hopes up about a future with him but it is not working. They have a real connection with each other. When Amber comes down with a form of cancer, she must make a decision about whether or not to involved Gray.

Stephanie used to work with Amber before she married a hotel executive and moved away from Boston to Miami. Now Stephanie is in a marriage that is not fulfilling her life as much as she thought it would. Her husband Brent is always away and she has reason to believe that he is cheating on her. Tom, a married man that Stephanie was involved with before she hooked up with Brent contacted her about rejoining the advertising agency on a project that would be perfect for her. She could work at home and have a purpose to her life instead of just being a wife and mother. Through the constant contact with Tom, they too begin a relationship that Stephanie calls e-dultery and begins to wonder where the lines end from having some fun and actually committing adultery.

Don't let the cover, title, and genre fool you. Hit Reply is much more than your average chick lit novel. It deals with some serious issues like cancer and adultery that will leave you laughing and crying. The friendships and relationships between these people are very realistic and make for a great read. I would also like to add that even though the entire book is written in email and IM format (which I normally no not like reading) somehow works with Hit Reply.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be able to put this book down!, December 17, 2004

By 

Marley Gibson "Young Adult Author" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hit Reply (Paperback)

Wow...what a great book. Zoomed through it in three days. Lost a lot of sleep and missed my train stop one day, but the book was emotionally satisfying to the last page. Rocki St. Claire really nailed it with this book about two women and their relationship that we, the reader, get to view voyeuristically through their e-mails and instant messaging. I felt like I had hacked into someone's computer and was reading all of their personal e-mail, reading things I shouldn't getting all of the delicious office gossip, who was zooming who and what was going on in these character's lives...but I couldn't stop myself. An excellent read and worth every minute spent on it. Put it in your cart...NOW!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great chick-lit!, January 12, 2005

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hit Reply (Paperback)

The book's cover, title and blurb caught my attention. I am not unfamiliar with novels written in the form of e-mails, but I still thought Hit Reply would make a more original chick-lit read. This is a fun novel about two long-distance friends who communicate via e-mail. Amber Fleece decides to join a sort of Missing Persons website to see if she could find her high school boyfriend. To her surprise, he writes back, but he is not the successful, unapproachable man she had imagined. He is different in more ways than one. While Amber is single, her best friend, Stephanie, is married with two children in Florida. Her husband spends most of his time traveling for work and she's afraid that he might be having an affair with a co-worker. She used to be a successful career woman and resents being a stay-at-home mother. She hadn't known how lonely she was until she starts flirting with a former co-worker via e-mail and IM. Her former flame convinces her to accept the position as consultant at the marketing firm he and Amber work for. What transpires is a funny and sometimes poignant story centered on friends, love, co-workers, and various aspects of office politics.

The e-mails and IMs make this novel a fun treat. Creating a convincing plot development and characterization that way can't be easy, but it worked out quite nicely. I admit that the e-mails and Instant Messages became a bit tiresome after a while though. I began to miss the conventional narratives and dialogue in novels. The novel has the signature wit and sassiness of chick-lit, but it also deals with some rather serious dilemmas, like infidelity and cancer. The way the author handled the development of the story centered on those subject matters impressed me. Rocki St. Claire is a great new chick-lit author. But based on the back cover details, I have the feeling that Stephanie's story is taken from the author's life. After all, she used to work in marketing and is married with two children and lives in Florida. Anyway, this is a fun book to read. It sort of reminded me of Meg Cabbot's The Boy Next Door. I recommend this entertaining novel if you're in the bargain for a good girlie read.